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- TATIINTED JAN..31, 1354. II. T. IINTIIONIIl TRESS FON MAKING MINIATURE GASES.

UNITED sTATEs PATENT oEEicE.

HENRY T. ANTHONY, NEW YORK, N.I Y;

riaEss Eon MAKING 1VLINIATURE-CASES.

Specification of Letters Patent No. l170,465,dated Januaryk 31, (1854.7

To all whom t may concern y Be it known that I, HENRY T. ANTHONY, j of the city, county, State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improve-k ments in theManufacture of Daguerreotype or Miniature Cases; and I dohereby declare i shape, the :top crossbarof vwhich isptapped so -as to receiveathumbscrew Bg The .two vertical posts have'ontheir insidesguide- 1 strips C, or grooves, `as may tbe ybest; these are `to guide and keep in place `the several that the following is a full, clear, and exact-1y description of the same, reference being made to the annexed drawings, making a part of this specification, in which- I Figure I is an elevation ,Fig II is a transverse vertical section; Figs. III and IV are sections of parts in detail; Figs. V and VI are comparative illustrations; and similar letters refer to similar parts throughout.

My invention is for an improved machine for covering daguerreotype cases.

To make the nature of my improvement more apparent I will in the first place briefly desscribe the process heretofore employed, and which it is intended to supersede, for putting or aiiixing the embossed leather covering upon the wood in the process of manufacturing said cases for the use of daguerreotype artists, miniature painters, and also in other ornamental work, as jewelry boxes, &c. The leather for these purposes is usually ornamented by having figures in relief produced by stamps, dies, &c. In applying these to the boxes, which is doneA by glue or paste, it is important that the edges, corners, and central parts shall be made to adhere by insuring the proper contact of the glued surfaces. To secure this the workman uses a rubber, being usually a blunt stick, and goes over the leather surface repeatedly until all parts appear to be set fast by the glue. This results' in considerably injuring the appearance of the embossed figures, as they lose their sharpness and high relief, somewhat as shown in Fig. V, which is intended to represent a part of a case covered in the old way, whileFig. VI, is to represent a like case treated by my process.

It will now be understood that by my machine I afiix the covering material in the first place, without the rubbing process, by a press, having platens or molds, the 'surfaces of which are brought to bear upon the covering materials so as to produce` the necessary pressure to secure the salne and yet not 'injure the figures. These surfaces are elastic, and by reason of this elasticity they yield to the elevations, while the flat surfaces are firmly glued to the wood. I

scription ofthe machine.

- also ,greatly increase the quantity of work which can be doneas well as producea much better andmore desirablearticle, all which will be madel apparent byvthefollowing de- At -A is represented a framiefof an yoblong platens.` The platensl are seen at D, and

consist of blocks large enough to cover the with cloth to keep it in and form a' surface,

to press upon the central parts of the case.

, The beveled edges are then tobe faced with some more tenacious elastic material; that which I have found to answer well is rubber, applied as shownat (1)); The upper face vof the platen has a square projection (i) using upon it which may be formed by cutting away the sides or by putting on a little block. This is for the purpose of holding the half of the box or case to be'operated upon, as it is shaped so as to fill the interior of one of those, as shown at (e). Several platens are now put into the frame, a groove on each side fitting upon the guides C, when it is ready for operation in thiswise. The,

workman takes out a block E (only used to save thenecessity o-fI turning the screw uselessly,) this leaves room to slide back all the platens from the bottom one, the frame lying down on its side.v The part of a box intended to be covered is taken anda coat of glue or paste of the proper consistency is applied upon that portion-l of its surface intended to receive the leather; a square of the properly elnbossed leatherl is then laid on,

so(Y

care being taken to adjust itto its proper place and t-he covered wood is now to be put into the frame upon the-projection (i) andk the platen next above v,is brought down `so that the central cushion is pressed upon the morocco. Others are to be treated-in the` same'way until the frame is illed'up which is the work of but a few minutes. The ,block The peculiarity of the operation Will now be seen. As the screw comes down' the soft cushion (a) in the center touches and presses first upon the highly raised figures', gently pressing all parts of the surface and squeezing the excess of glue and air bubbles out toward the edges Without breaking down the raised parts ofthe igure. This is shown in Fig. IH. The rubber cushion now presses upon the beveled edges of the case and comd pletes the operation, `as shown in FigJjIV.

At the place Where these cushions join, the

leather is usually left plain, and as this part comes in play there is a slight tendency to draw Vtheleather over in all directions; the consequence is that the surfacel on the plain parts are very smooth and the miters on the corners accurately formed.

The amount of pressure tol be given by the screw is a matter to be determined by ,practice, and the nature of the materials operated upon.

. What I claim. as of my invention and desire to secure by Letters ]?atent is- The herein described constructionof the platens of a press for applying the covering materials to miniature and other like cases, by forming the face which gives the` pressure, of elastic materials, Wherebythe embossed or other raised iigures and ornaments Will not be obscured or injured during the process, while at the same ltime a superior quality of Work is produced substantially in the manner set forth. HENRY T. ANTHONY.

y Witnesses: y

S. H. MAYNARD, GEO. R. SHERMAN. 

